Mutagen

However, there was a little bit of change.

Initially, General Bautista volunteered to guide Mark where he wanted to go around the settlement. However, instead of the newly appointed general, Mark was currently accompanied by two women and two girls. There was no need to ask who the four were. It was clear that they were Alana, Karlene, Karla, and Artenaris. Well, it was actually just the two adults who would guide Mark. Karla could not be left behind, while Artenaris was just doing what she wanted.

And while it was mentioned that Alana and Karlene were the adults, Artenaris should be several decades older than the oldest person in the settlement. Even so, her current appearance was of a teenage beggar. It was also questionable whether it was appropriate to call the childish Karlene an adult.

Due to the contents of the letter, General Bautista decided to remain in the tent to discuss things with General Faustino and the other important members of the settlement. Thus, only the girls could guide Mark.

In any case, Mark set off from the tent, led by Alana and Karlene. Of course, Mark immediately became the center of attention. One, he was already well known within this settlement. Two, he was currently with the two most popular women in this place. This might be several months after the apocalypse. However, it was not easy to forget that Alana and Karlene were pretty well-known actresses before it all began. Furthermore, their current strength and will to protect this place had caused their popularity among the people of this place to skyrocket.

And another thing...

Unknown to Mark, bits, and pieces of information about the Mountain Base leaked to the residents of this settlement. Most were speculations, but there was a little bit of truth to some rumors circulating. How? Well, while not spreading things on purpose, there were two women that would slip their tongues every now and then when they let down their guards. Most of it was when the two were talking about things the settlement lacked, comparing it to the so-called "Mountain Base." They were not talking to others, but there were times when a third party would hear them by accident.

The five of them walked southeast and out of the military encampment. And, of course, their group was met with lots of eager stares.

There was no way Mark would not notice, and he was sure that Alana, Karlene, and Arternaris also did. They might even know why.

However, Mark did not say anything. Besides, it seemed that the reason already troubled Alana and Karlene quite a bit, and they hoped Mark would not ask about it. Mark did not care, though. While the stares felt annoying, he would not care as long as they would not cause him trouble.

The five reached the first place Mark wanted to go to pretty quick. It was the southern gate and walls. Since the military encampment was situated southwest of the settlement, the location was quite close.

Mark stared at the wall and the gates in silence.

"Looks worse than your place, right?"

Alana nonchalantly remarked, despite Mark not saying anything.

"There\'s really no need to compare, is there?"

Mark replied.

The wall in front of them was a combination of riverside boulders, wooden barricades, and scrap material walls. The walls were then bound by a plethora of things. Vines for the wood, some sort of adhesive for the boulders, and wires for the scrap walls.

The walls might not be comparable to that of the Mountain Base. Nonetheless, it was already quite a feat to be able to surround the settlement with these walls. And most of all, it was the fruit of the cooperation of humans and magical races.

While the magical tribe that Artenaris led were all outcast half-breeds, all of them had abilities corresponding to the kinds of magical races of their parents.

There was no way it was only humans who brought these boulders to support the walls, nor could they make these vines tie these walls tightly. Even the adhesive that bound the boulders was neither cement nor clay. These walls were built with mixed efforts.

Unfortunately, these walls were not enough to defend against all types of threats outside its premises.

And just like the other day when the settlement was attacked by a pretty large horde of [Infected], the gates and some parts of the walls were broken down.

From Berrak\'s report, a [Armored Type Hybrid] was present in the horde. [Armored Type Infected] had armored bodies, as the name suggested, making them hard to kill. They were also dangerous in melee combat since their heavy bodies packed quite the punch. However, that body also made them slow-moving.

On the other hand, the one that caused the damage to the walls of Infanta Settlement was a rather fast-moving [Armored Type Infected]. Its speed was not comparable to [Predator Types] and was even a bit slower than a regular sprinting [Biter]. However, the speed it had was more than enough to reach the walls and cause damage before the soldiers could kill it.

The damage done by that [Armored Type Hybrid] was still being repaired. While the broken walls and gate were temporarily blocked off using magically grown vines and plants together with other stuff, it was still far from an actual defensive structure.

Still, the materials were quickly being gathered and transported to the area as the piles of river rocks, boulders, and newly cut trees littered the area.

At this time, they spotted a group arriving with newly cut logs for the planned reconstruction. Two men in that group were familiar to Mark.

"Oh, there\'s Joash and Tyson!" Karlene exclaimed. "Let me call them."

Karlene then stormed off without waiting for any reply.

"Does she really have to call them?"

Mark said in a cold tone.

"Don\'t be like that," Alana replied to Mark with a bitter smile. "They also owe their lives to you, remember? You can at least accept their gratitude."

Joash and Tyson. The two men were in a group with Karlene and Alana when Mark first met them. It was when they were ambushed by bandits on the Marikina-Infanta Highway, and Mark saved them in order to get some information. Of course, that event led to the current situation where the two women became closely related to Mark in one way or another. And since then, the group disbanded as the members now had different goals.

"That Joash is a pretty annoying fellow, though."

Mark said to which Alana replied with a sigh.

"That\'s because he is aiming for Karlene at that time, remember? Then you came, and Karlene began sticking around you like a kid. It won\'t be the same now."

Those words made Mark turn to Alana. Then, to what she was looking at.

In the group Joash and Tyson were with now, there was a pretty-looking woman. She might not be of the caliber of actresses like Karlene and Alana. Nonetheless, she was quite the eye candy if not for the fact that she looked dirty like most people nowadays.

"Joash moved on from Karlene to that girl. When we were not around, Joash fell injured from a mission. It looks like she was a nurse who tended to his injuries at that time. You can see what happened next."

Mark stared at the group, now heading in his direction due to Karlene. It was quite a cliche progress on Joash\'s love life. And it was actually a better outcome. After all, Karlene was not interested in Joash in any way, and there was less likelihood of the two being a couple, given the childish [Mutator Trait] that Karlene had.

"Hey!"

Joash greeted Mark. Compared to his snarky attitude in the past because of his jealousy, his greeting felt free-spirited. While he still sported quite the rich-kid vibe due to his upbringing, he did not have a bad character overall.

This might not be included in his plans, but Mark faced the sudden meet-up pretty positively. Since the jealousy was gone, Joash\'s gratitude and sorry for the past events became more apparent.

The members of the new group of Joash and Tyson were happy to meet Mark face to face. Well, Mark was now well known in this settlement due to various things, especially his feats in the past. Unfortunately, unlike celebrities, Mark would not fake being an approachable kind of person. Thus, only a few people had the opportunity to meet the powerful man named Mark.

It was just a short meet-up. After all, everyone had a place they had to be, work or not.

Joash\'s group went back to work while Mark went to his next destination.

"Why do you want to see the dump site?"

Karlene asked in confusion. After all, no one would want to linger around the place where they dump unwanted things.

"I have my reasons."

Mark said, following Alana\'s lead.

Their next destination was the dump site. Specifically, the place where destroyed [Mechids] were thrown away.

Compared to [Infected] and [Evolved Animal] attacks, [Mechid] attacks were, thankfully, rarer in this place. It was a good thing since the military of Infanta Settlement did not have a lot of resources to constantly deal with these alien robots.

They went out of the settlement\'s premises. It was about half a kilometer away southeast.

The dump site was far for a reason. Not only the dead [Infected] was also being dumped here, but the black goo from the [Mechids] was an obvious reason.

Upon reaching the dumpsite, Mark found a few large holes dug in the ground at quite a reasonable distance from one another. It was clear that the military segregated the dumped things, at least.

"It\'s there."

Alana pointed at the northmost hole.

Mark began to approach, only to look back. Aside from Karla, the other three were not keen on approaching the hole at all.

Seeing their hesitation, Mark shrugged. He could understand their hesitation. The black goo released fumes that smelled disgusting, which could also cause various effects on humans, similar to radiation.

Not to mention that the entire dumpsite was not good smelling at all.

Mark grabbed Karla\'s hand and approached the hole with Ignis floating closely behind him. It was while he activated the [Wind Manipulation Mental Crystal] to at least block the smell.

Arriving at the vicinity of the northmost hole, Mark saw the thrown bodies of [Mechids]. The fumes from the black goo were thick to the point of being visible to the naked eye.

"Stand behind me."

Mark said to Karla, and the purple-haired girl complied without question. Not like she could already dish out questions, though.

And there, Mark extended his right hand.

With the loud crackling sound, black-colored lightning shot out of Mark\'s hand.

The black lightning quickly cleared the fumes and slowly worked on the black goo. Karla, and even Ignis, watched the black goo slowly get erased from the hole filled with destroyed [Mechids].

After a few minutes of continuously dishing out the black lightning, the black goo was completely eliminated from the hole and the bodies of the [Mechids].

Mark then jumped in to check the bodies of [Mechids], looking around like a scavenger from a sci-fi robot invasion film. His goal was not different than a scavenger, though. He was there to search for intact parts, especially the weapons. It was definitely a scavenger-like action.

Finding some interesting things, Mark immediately stored the items in his [Spatial Ring].

Mark went out of the hole after a few minutes, looking satisfied with the things he found.

Returning to the three waiting women, Mark was met with exasperated stares.

"As time went on, the more absurd you become, you know that?"

Alana asked Mark. There was no way they would not be surprised to see Mark erasing the harmful substance that none of them could fathom.